Untitled - An Inuyasha Ficlet
by Sandrock
Summary: A short fic written because the author needed closure after seeing episode 48. Also a writing exercise to get back into the fanfic-writing mood. ^_^;


UNTITLED - An Inuyasha ficlet based on episode 48  
by Sandrock - sandrock@sandrockproductions.com  
  
Disclaimer  
Inuyasha (C) Rumiko Takahashi, Sunrise Inc.  
  
*****  
  
The hurt throbbed, ebbing and flowing within her body, threatening to overwhelm her. Blinking back tears, she watched as her mother slowly disappeared in the distance, groceries back in hand as she walked away, her maternal duty fulfilled. For the merest of moments, the hurt receded, as her heart reached out silently in thanks for the comfort that the elder woman had provided, if only fleetingly.  
  
All around, the warmth of the summer sun permeated the air, and as thoughts of the one who had caused her all this hurt returned to the fore, for a moment she looked up, staring at the shining orb casting its brilliant yellow rays earthward.  
  
And all she could see was his brilliant golden eyes staring back at her, piercing into her soul.  
  
Her hand tightened its grip around the precious jar that held the shards that were her birthright - the shards that would give her the power to see him once again. Mere moments ago, she had made her decision - to give them up. To give them to him in one final, chivalrous action that would seal her fate and his.  
  
*And maybe he'd be so touched by your actions, he'd ask you to stay. That he'd give up the one thing he's loved more than anything else for the last fifty years, just for you. That's what you thought, didn't you? That despite the pain and suffering he was causing you, you could do nothing but think of him and care for him? That's what you wanted him to feel, isn't it?*  
  
Brittle glass cracked, piercing into equally fragile human skin, drawing out rivulets of red and the distinct scent of copper. Freed of its confines, the shards sparkled in the sunlight.  
  
*No.*  
  
*****  
  
*I won't give him up. I won't give up on him... not yet. *  
  
*I love him.*  
  
The rough, cracked walls of the well had never felt so coarse. Emerging from its dark confines into the sunlight, Kagome breathed deeply, taking in the scent of unspoiled nature and the world that she had begun to consider her second home.  
  
But for the first time since that first fateful meeting with Inuyasha, she paused, uncertainty filling her and stopping her in her tracks.  
  
*What am I going to say to him? That I love him and want to be with him no matter what? What would that accomplish? He...*  
  
*He loves her. He's loved her far longer than I've been alive, even though she has nothing but hate for him.*  
  
She shook her head.   
  
*Inuyasha...*  
  
Her relationship with the white-haired, dog-eared demon had been nothing short of complex, and even now, she found it hard to give form to her feelings for him. Certainly, he was an enigma - an ageless hanyou who looked and acted like a reckless, violent seventeen-year old, prone to do things without thinking. What could anyone see in him?  
  
But, she knew the answer to that question long before it formed in her mind. Looking past the superficial fact that he was impossibly handsome, it hadn't taken long for her to discover the real Inuyasha - the gentle, kind person that hid just beneath the cold and hard exterior that reality had forced him to create. Beneath that shallow façade lay his true personality - the part of him that smiled and laughed and showed mercy to the weak. It was the part of him that cared and cried... and loved.  
  
*It was the part of him that you fell in love with.*  
  
Kagome blinked, forcing away the tears that were threatening to form yet again.   
  
*I want to be with him. I will be with him. Even though he loves her.*  
  
Soft footsteps resounded throughout the plain, breaking the silence. Making sure the last of the tears were gone, she turned around to face the one who approached, the gleaming sun behind her.  
  
And all she saw was his brilliant golden eyes staring back at her.  
  
-fin- 


End file.
